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Queensland
OMBUDSMAN BILL 2001
Queensland
OMBUDSMAN BILL 2001
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section Page
PART 1--PRELIMINARY
Division 1--General
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 Commencement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5 Objects of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6 How objects are to be achieved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Division 2--Key concepts
7 Meaning of "administrative action" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
8 Meaning of "agency". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
9 Meaning of "public authority" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
10 What is included in meaning of administrative action of agency . . . . . . . . . 13
PART 2--THE OMBUDSMAN
11 Ombudsman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
12 Functions of ombudsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
13 Ombudsman not subject to direction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
PART 3--INVESTIGATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS OF
AGENCIES
Division 1--Extent of jurisdiction
14 What ombudsman may investigate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
15 Liaison with complaints entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
16 What ombudsman may not investigate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
17 Application to Supreme Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
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Ombudsman Bill 2001
Division 2--When administrative actions may be investigated
18 When ombudsman may investigate administrative action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
19 Assembly may refer administrative action for investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Division 3--Complaints
20 Complaints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
21 Effect of restrictive provisions on complaints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
22 Preliminary inquiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
23 Refusal to investigate complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Division 4--Other provisions
24 Investigations generally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
25 Procedure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
26 Consultation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
PART 4--POWERS AND PROCEDURES FOR INVESTIGATIONS
Division 1--Ombudsman's powers for conducting investigations
27 Notice to principal officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
28 Requirement to give document or information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
29 Requirement to attend and to give document or information . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
30 Compliance with investigation requirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
31 Power of court if non-compliance with investigation requirement . . . . . . . . 23
32 Custody of document given to ombudsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
33 Way of giving information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
34 Investigation at agency premises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
35 Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Division 2--Arrest warrants
36 Application for arrest warrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
37 Issue of arrest warrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Division 3--Contempt
38 Contempt of ombudsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
39 Punishment of contempt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
40 Conduct that is contempt and offence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Division 4--Offences
41 False or misleading statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
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42 False or misleading document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
43 Offence to assault or obstruct ombudsman or officer of ombudsman . . . . . . 29
PART 5--OTHER PROVISIONS SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
OF OMBUDSMAN'S FUNCTIONS
44 Application of Criminal Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
45 Information disclosure and privilege. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
46 Disclosure of certain matters not required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
47 Protection of person helping ombudsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
48 Inadmissibility of particular document given under investigation requirement 32
PART 6--REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Division 1--Reports on particular investigations
49 Investigations to which div 1 applies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
50 Report and recommendation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
51 Action after report making recommendations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Division 2--Other reports
52 Report to Assembly on ombudsman's initiative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
53 Report on parliamentary reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
54 Other reports on authority of speaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Division 3--Miscellaneous
55 Report containing adverse comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
56 Report not to disclose identities in particular circumstances . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
57 Information to complainant on completion of investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
PART 7--PARTICULAR PROVISIONS ABOUT THE
OMBUDSMAN
Division 1--Appointment
58 Appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
59 Procedure before appointment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
60 Ineligibility for appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
61 Term of appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
62 Remuneration and conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
63 Oath before performing duties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
64 Restriction on outside employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
65 Acting ombudsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
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Division 2--Ombudsman may be removed or suspended from office
66 Grounds for removal or suspension from office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
67 Removal of ombudsman on address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
68 Suspension of ombudsman on address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
69 Suspension of ombudsman if Assembly not sitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
70 Acts Interpretation Act 1954 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Division 3--Resignation and vacation of office
71 Resignation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
72 Vacation of office. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
PART 8--ADMINISTRATION
Division 1--Establishment and control of office
73 Office of the Ombudsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
74 Control of office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
75 Officers not subject to outside direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Division 2--Staff of the office
76 Officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
77 Secondment as officer of ombudsman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
78 Temporary and casual employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Division 3--Preservation of rights
79 Preservation of rights if public service officer appointed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
80 Preservation of rights if person becomes public service officer . . . . . . . . . . 44
81 Preservation of ombudsman's rights if not previously public service officer 44
82 Preservation of rights if public service officer seconded. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Division 4--Strategic review
83 Strategic review of ombudsman office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
84 Conduct of strategic review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
85 Report of strategic review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Division 5--Other matters
86 Delegation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
87 Annual report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
88 Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
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PART 9--PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE
89 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
PART 10--MISCELLANEOUS
90 Right to interpreter or other help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
91 Prohibiting publication of information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
92 Secrecy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
93 Protection from liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
94 Regulation-making power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
PART 11--REPEAL AND AMENDMENT
95 Repeal of Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
96 Acts amended in sch 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
PART 12--TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
97 Definitions for pt 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
98 Continuation of appointments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
99 Continuation of actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
100 Investigation of certain administrative action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
101 Strategic review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
102 Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974 references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
103 Parliamentary commissioner and other references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
PART 13--AMENDMENT OF FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION
AND AUDIT ACT 1977
104 Act amended in pt 13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
105 Replacement of s 72 (Strategic review of audit office) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Division 6--Strategic review
72 Strategic review of audit office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
72A Conduct of strategic review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
72B Report of strategic review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
106 Insertion of new pt 8, div 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Division 4--Transitional provision for Ombudsman Act 2001
141 Strategic review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
107 Amendment of sch 1 (Other accountable officers for certain bodies). . . . . . 55
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Ombudsman Bill 2001
PART 14--AMENDMENT OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
ACT 1992
108 Act amended in pt 14 and sch 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
109 Replacement of pt 5, div 2 (Staff of Information Commissioner). . . . . . . . . 56
Division 2--Staff of Commissioner
70 Officers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
70A Secondment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
70B Temporary and casual employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
70C Performance of functions by officers of ombudsman . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Division 2A--Preservation of rights
70D Preservation of rights if public service officer appointed . . . . . . . . . 57
70E Preservation of rights if person becomes public service officer . . . . 58
70F Preservation of rights if public service officer seconded . . . . . . . . . . 58
110 Replacement of s 108A (Strategic review of commissioner) . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
108A Strategic review of commissioner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
108AA Conduct of strategic review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
108AB Report of strategic review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
111 Insertion of new pt 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
PART 7--TRANSITIONAL PROVISION FOR OMBUDSMAN ACT
2001
110 Strategic review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
SCHEDULE 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
AMENDMENT OF OTHER ACTS
ACTS INTERPRETATION ACT 1954 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
CHILD PROTECTION ACT 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
COMMISSION FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE ACT 2000 . . . 62
COOPERATIVES ACT 1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
CORRECTIVE SERVICES ACT 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
EVIDENCE ACT 1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
GOVERNMENT OWNED CORPORATIONS ACT 1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
GRAIN INDUSTRY (RESTRUCTURING) ACT 1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
HEALTH RIGHTS COMMISSION ACT 1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
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JUDICIAL REVIEW ACT 1991. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1993. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
MEAT INDUSTRY ACT 1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES ACT 1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
PUBLIC SECTOR ETHICS ACT 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
QUEENSLAND COMPETITION AUTHORITY ACT 1997 . . . . . . . . . . . 68
RURAL ADJUSTMENT AUTHORITY ACT 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
SUGAR INDUSTRY ACT 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
WHISTLEBLOWERS PROTECTION ACT 1994. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
WORKCOVER QUEENSLAND ACT 1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
SCHEDULE 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
MINOR AMENDMENTS OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
1992
SCHEDULE 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
DICTIONARY
2001
A BILL
FOR
An Act to establish an office of ombudsman for investigating
administrative actions taken by, in or for certain agencies, and
recommending to agencies ways of improving administrative
processes, and for other purposes
s1 10 s6
Ombudsman Bill 2001
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
PART 1--PRELIMINARY 2
Division 1--General 3
1 Short title 4
This Act may be cited as the Ombudsman Act 2001. 5
2 Commencement 6
This Act commences on a day to be fixed by proclamation. 7
3 Definitions 8
The dictionary in schedule 3 defines terms used in this Act. 9
4 Notes 10
A note in the text of this Act is part of the Act. 11
5 Objects of Act 12
The objects of this Act are-- 13
(a) to give people a timely, effective, independent and just way of 14
having administrative actions of agencies investigated; and 15
(b) to improve the quality of decision-making and administrative 16
practice in agencies. 17
6 How objects are to be achieved 18
The objects of this Act are to be achieved by-- 19
(a) requiring an ombudsman to be appointed; and 20
(b) authorising the ombudsman-- 21
s7 11 s8
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(i) to investigate administrative actions of agencies; and 1
(ii) to make recommendations to agencies, generally or in 2
particular cases, about ways of improving the quality of 3
decision-making and administrative practices. 4
Division 2--Key concepts 5
7 Meaning of "administrative action" 6
(1) An "administrative action" is any action about a matter of 7
administration, and includes-- 8
(a) a decision and an act; and 9
(b) a failure to make a decision or do an act, including a failure to 10
provide a written statement of reasons for a decision; and 11
(c) the formulation of a proposal or intention; and 12
(d) the making of a recommendation, including a recommendation 13
made to a Minister; and 14
(e) an action taken because of a recommendation made to a Minister. 15
(2) However, an operational action of a police officer, an officer of the 16
criminal justice commission or an officer of the crime commission is not an 17
"administrative action". 18
8 Meaning of "agency" 19
(1) An "agency" is any of the following entities-- 20
(a) a department; 21
(b) a local government; 22
(c) a public authority. 23
(2) An agency is taken to include an entity, other than an incorporated 24
entity or an individual, established under an Act as a board, council, 25
committee, subcommittee or other similar entity for helping, or for 26
performing functions connected with, the agency. 27
(3) An individual is not an agency under this Act only because the 28
individual holds-- 29
s9 12 s9
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(a) an office the duties of which are performed as duties of 1
employment as an officer of an agency; or 2
(b) an office of member of an agency; or 3
(c) an office established under an Act for the purposes of an agency. 4
9 Meaning of "public authority" 5
(1) A "public authority" is any of the following entities-- 6
(a) an entity, other than an individual, that is-- 7
(i) established for a public purpose under an Act; or 8
(ii) established by government for a public purpose under an 9
Act; 10
(b) an entity created by the Governor in Council or a Minister; 11
(c) an entity, other than an individual, declared under a regulation to 12
be a public authority and-- 13
(i) supported directly or indirectly by government funds or 14
other help over which government is in a position to 15
exercise control; or 16
(ii) established under an Act; 17
(d) an individual holding an office established under an Act; 18
(e) an individual holding an appointment-- 19
(i) made by the Governor in Council or a Minister, other than 20
under an Act; and 21
(ii) declared under a regulation to be a public authority. 22
(2) However, none of the following is a "public authority"-- 23
(a) a department or part of a department; 24
(b) a local government or part of a local government; 25
(c) a court, or the holder of a judicial office connected with a court, 26
when acting judicially or when performing a function the court 27
or office holder is authorised under an Act to perform; 28
s 10 13 s 12
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(d) a registry or other office of a court, or the staff of a registry or 1
other office of a court in their official capacity, to the extent its or 2
their functions relate to the court's judicial functions. 3
4
Note--
5
The entities mentioned in subsection (2)(a) and (b) are agencies under section 8(1).
10 What is included in meaning of administrative action of agency 6
An administrative action of an agency includes-- 7
(a) an administrative action taken by, in or for the agency; and 8
(b) an administrative action taken by or for an officer of the agency; 9
and 10
(c) an administrative action taken for, or in the performance of 11
functions conferred on, an agency, by an entity that is not an 12
agency. 13
PART 2--THE OMBUDSMAN 14
11 Ombudsman 15
(1) There is to be an ombudsman. 16
(2) The ombudsman is an officer of the Parliament. 17
12 Functions of ombudsman 18
The functions of the ombudsman are-- 19
(a) to investigate administrative actions of agencies-- 20
(i) on reference from the Assembly or a statutory committee of 21
the Assembly; or 22
(ii) on complaint; or 23
(iii) on the ombudsman's own initiative; and 24
(b) to consider the administrative practices and procedures of an 25
agency whose actions are being investigated and to make 26
recommendations to the agency-- 27
s 13 14 s 15
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(i) about appropriate ways of addressing the effects of 1
inappropriate administrative actions; or 2
(ii) for the improvement of the practices and procedures; and 3
(c) to consider the administrative practices and procedures of 4
agencies generally and to make recommendations or provide 5
information or other help to the agencies for the improvement of 6
the practices and procedures; and 7
(d) the other functions conferred on the ombudsman under this or 8
any other Act. 9
13 Ombudsman not subject to direction 10
Subject to any other Act or law, the ombudsman is not subject to 11
direction by any person about-- 12
(a) the way the ombudsman performs the ombudsman's functions 13
under this Act; or 14
(b) the priority given to investigations. 15
PART 3--INVESTIGATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE 16
ACTIONS OF AGENCIES 17
Division 1--Extent of jurisdiction 18
14 What ombudsman may investigate 19
(1) The ombudsman may investigate administrative actions of agencies. 20
(2) The ombudsman may investigate an administrative action despite a 21
provision in any Act to the effect that the action is final or can not be 22
appealed against, challenged, reviewed, quashed or called in question. 23
15 Liaison with complaints entity 24
The ombudsman may-- 25
s 16 15 s 16
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(a) liaise with a complaints entity about the exercise by the 1
ombudsman and the complaints entity of their respective 2
functions for investigating administrative actions; and 3
(b) enter into an arrangement with the complaints entity aimed at 4
avoiding inappropriate duplication of investigative activity. 5
16 What ombudsman may not investigate 6
(1) The ombudsman must not question the merits of-- 7
(a) a decision, including a policy decision, made by a Minister or 8
Cabinet; or 9
(b) a decision that the ombudsman is satisfied has been taken for 10
implementing a decision made by Cabinet. 11
(2) Also, the ombudsman must not investigate administrative action 12
taken by-- 13
(a) a tribunal, or a member of a tribunal, in the performance of the 14
tribunal's deliberative functions; or 15
(b) a person acting as legal adviser to the State or as counsel for the 16
State in any legal proceedings; or 17
(c) a member of the police service, if the action may be, or has been, 18
investigated under the Criminal Justice Act 1989; or 19
(d) a police officer, if the officer is liable to disciplinary action, or 20
has been disciplined, under the Police Service Administration Act 21
1990, part 71 because of the action; or 22
(e) the auditor-general; or 23
(f) a mediator at a mediation session under the Dispute Resolution 24
Centres Act 1990; or 25
(g) a person in a capacity as a conciliator under the Health Rights 26
Commission Act 1991.2 27
1 Police Service Administration Act 1990, part 7 (Internal command and discipline)
2 Also, the Government Owned Corporations Act 1993, section 182 (Application of
Ombudsman Act 2001) stops this Act from applying to a number of stated matters in
relation to statutory GOCs, and the Local Government Act 1993, section 728
contains a similar provision for corporatised corporations under that Act. The
Government Owned Corporations Act 1993, section 184 totally excludes this Act
from application to company GOCs.
s 17 16 s 19
Ombudsman Bill 2001
17 Application to Supreme Court 1
(1) This section applies if, in an investigation, a question arises about 2
whether the ombudsman has jurisdiction to conduct the investigation. 3
(2) The ombudsman may apply to the Supreme Court to decide the 4
question. 5
(3) The application must be heard in closed court. 6
7
Note--
8
This section does not stop applications being made under the Judicial Review Act 1991
9
by entities whose actions are being investigated or by complainants.
Division 2--When administrative actions may be investigated 10
18 When ombudsman may investigate administrative action 11
(1) The ombudsman may investigate administrative action of an agency 12
if-- 13
(a) a complaint is made about the administrative action; or 14
(b) the ombudsman otherwise considers the administrative action 15
should be investigated. 16
(2) The ombudsman must investigate a parliamentary reference of an 17
administrative action of an agency. 18
19 Assembly may refer administrative action for investigation 19
(1) The Assembly or a statutory committee of the Assembly may refer to 20
the ombudsman, for investigation and report, any administrative action of 21
an agency the ombudsman may investigate that the Assembly or committee 22
considers should be investigated by the ombudsman. 23
(2) The ombudsman must ensure the investigation is started as soon as 24
possible after the reference is made. 25
s 20 17 s 20
Ombudsman Bill 2001
Division 3--Complaints 1
20 Complaints 2
(1) Unless this section otherwise provides, a complaint about an 3
administrative action of an agency-- 4
(a) may be made orally or in written form; and 5
(b) may be made by any person, or by any body of persons, whether 6
incorporated or not ("complainant"), apparently directly 7
affected by the action; and 8
(c) must be made within 1 year after the day the complainant first 9
had notice of the action. 10
(2) For subsection (1)(c), a complainant is taken to have had notice of the 11
action at the time the complainant might reasonably be expected to have 12
had notice of the action. 13
(3) Despite subsection (1), the ombudsman may-- 14
(a) decline to investigate an oral complaint until the complaint is put 15
in writing; or 16
(b) accept a complaint made for a complainant by a person 17
apparently representing the complainant; or 18
(c) accept a complaint after the end of the period mentioned in 19
subsection (1)(c) if the ombudsman considers it is proper to 20
accept the complaint because special circumstances exist; or 21
(d) accept a complaint even though the complaint may not on its face 22
be against an administrative action or agency if the ombudsman 23
considers there is a likelihood that the cause for complaint arose 24
from an administrative action. 25
(4) The ombudsman may, if the ombudsman considers it necessary for 26
achieving the objects of this Act for a particular complaint, give a person 27
the help necessary to put the complaint in writing. 28
(5) However, if the person who could have made a complaint under this 29
Act has died or the ombudsman considers the person can not, for any 30
reason, act for himself or herself, the complaint may be made by an 31
individual who is, in the ombudsman's opinion, suitable to represent the 32
person (also a "complainant"). 33
s 21 18 s 23
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(6) Also, if a person making the complaint is in custody or detention, the 1
person in charge of the place of custody or detention must ensure all 2
necessary steps are taken to facilitate the making of the complaint. 3
Maximum penalty for subsection (6)--100 penalty units or 1 year's 4
imprisonment. 5
21 Effect of restrictive provisions on complaints 6
If a provision, of an Act, prohibits or restricts, or authorises or requires 7
the imposition of prohibitions or restrictions on, communication, the 8
provision does not apply to a communication made for the purpose of 9
making a complaint under this Act. 10
22 Preliminary inquiry 11
(1) For this division, the ombudsman may make reasonably necessary 12
inquiries to decide whether a complaint should be investigated. 13
(2) The principal officer of the agency must give the ombudsman 14
reasonable help in the conduct of a preliminary inquiry. 15
23 Refusal to investigate complaint 16
(1) The ombudsman may refuse to investigate a complaint or, having 17
started to investigate a complaint, may refuse to continue the investigation 18
if the ombudsman considers that-- 19
(a) the complaint is trivial; or 20
(b) the complaint is frivolous or vexatious or is not made in good 21
faith; or 22
(c) the complainant does not have a sufficient direct interest in the 23
action complained of; or 24
(d) both of the following apply-- 25
(i) the complainant has a right of appeal, reference or review, 26
or another remedy, that the person has not exhausted; 27
(ii) it would be reasonable in the circumstances to require the 28
person to exhaust the right or remedy before the 29
ombudsman investigates, or continues to investigate, the 30
complaint; or 31
s 24 19 s 24
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(e) both of the following apply-- 1
(i) the complainant had a right of appeal, reference or review, 2
or another remedy that is exhausted; 3
(ii) in the circumstances, the investigation, or the continuance 4
of the investigation, of the action complained of is 5
unnecessary or unjustifiable; or 6
(f) in the circumstances, the investigation, or the continuance of the 7
investigation, of the action complained of is unnecessary or 8
unjustifiable. 9
(2) Also, the ombudsman need not investigate a complaint to the extent 10
that the ombudsman is satisfied a complaints entity has investigated, or will 11
investigate, the action complained of at a level at least substantially 12
equivalent to the level at which the ombudsman would otherwise 13
investigate the complaint. 14
(3) A right or remedy mentioned in subsection (1)(d)(i) or (e)(i) does not 15
include a right under the Judicial Review Act 1991 to make application to 16
the Supreme Court. 17
(4) If the ombudsman-- 18
(a) can not investigate a complaint; or 19
(b) refuses to investigate a complaint; or 20
(c) refuses to continue an investigation of a complaint; 21
the ombudsman must inform the complainant, in writing, of the decision 22
and the reasons for the decision as soon as reasonably practicable. 23
Division 4--Other provisions 24
24 Investigations generally 25
The ombudsman may conduct an investigation or part of an 26
investigation-- 27
(a) informally; or 28
(b) by exercising powers under part 4.3 29
3 Part 4 (Powers and procedures for investigations)
s 25 20 s 26
Ombudsman Bill 2001
25 Procedure 1
(1) Unless this Act otherwise provides, the ombudsman may regulate the 2
procedure on an investigation in the way the ombudsman considers 3
appropriate. 4
(2) The ombudsman, when conducting an investigation-- 5
(a) must conduct the investigation in a way that maintains 6
confidentiality; and 7
(b) is not bound by the rules of evidence, but must comply with 8
natural justice; and 9
(c) is not required to hold a hearing for the investigation; and 10
(d) may obtain information from the persons, and in the way, the 11
ombudsman considers appropriate; and 12
(e) may make the inquiries the ombudsman considers appropriate. 13
26 Consultation 14
(1) The ombudsman may, during or after an investigation, consult any 15
Minister who is concerned in the action complained of. 16
(2) The ombudsman must consult with a Minister if-- 17
(a) either-- 18
(i) the Minister asks to consult with the ombudsman about an 19
investigation; or 20
(ii) an investigation relates to a recommendation made to the 21
Minister; and 22
(b) the ombudsman is considering making a report under section 50 23
about the investigation.4 24
(3) If, during an investigation, the ombudsman considers there may be 25
grounds for making a report on the investigation that may affect or concern 26
an agency, the ombudsman must, before making the report, give the 27
principal officer of the agency an opportunity to comment on the matter 28
under investigation. 29
4 Section 50 (Report and recommendation)
s 27 21 s 28
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(4) In this section-- 1
"Minister" includes a local government's chairperson, mayor or president. 2
PART 4--POWERS AND PROCEDURES FOR 3
INVESTIGATIONS 4
Division 1--Ombudsman's powers for conducting investigations 5
27 Notice to principal officer 6
(1) If-- 7
(a) the ombudsman decides, or is required, to conduct an 8
investigation into an administrative action of an agency; and 9
(b) the ombudsman intends to exercise powers under this part; 10
the ombudsman must, before exercising the powers, give the principal 11
officer of the agency a notice under subsection (2). 12
(2) The notice must-- 13
(a) inform the officer of the ombudsman's intention to conduct the 14
investigation; and 15
(b) identify, to the extent reasonable in the circumstances, the 16
administrative action the subject of the investigation; and 17
(c) inform the officer in general terms of the powers the ombudsman 18
may exercise under this part for investigations. 19
(3) On the giving of the notice, the ombudsman may exercise powers 20
under this part for the investigation. 21
28 Requirement to give document or information 22
The ombudsman may by notice given to a person, require the person, 23
within a stated reasonable time-- 24
(a) to give the ombudsman-- 25
(i) an oral or written statement of information of a stated type 26
relevant to the investigation; or 27
s 29 22 s 29
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(ii) a stated document or other stated thing relevant to the 1
investigation, or a copy of a stated document; or 2
(iii) all documents of a stated type containing information 3
relevant to the investigation, or copies of documents of the 4
stated type; or 5
(b) to create, and give the ombudsman, a document containing 6
information reasonably required for the investigation. 7
29 Requirement to attend and to give document or information 8
(1) The ombudsman may by notice given to a person, require the 9
person-- 10
(a) to attend before the ombudsman at a stated reasonable place and 11
time; and 12
(b) at the stated place and time, to do 1 or more of the following as 13
stated in the notice-- 14
(i) give the ombudsman information of a stated type relevant to 15
the investigation; 16
(ii) answer questions relevant to the investigation the 17
ombudsman reasonably requires to be answered; 18
(iii) give the ombudsman a stated document or other stated thing 19
relevant to the investigation, or a copy of a stated document; 20
(iv) give the ombudsman all documents of a stated type 21
containing information relevant to the investigation, or 22
copies of documents of the stated type. 23
(2) If the person is a prisoner, the ombudsman may, by notice given to 24
the chief executive (corrective services), direct that chief executive to 25
produce the prisoner named in the notice at a stated time and place. 26
(3) A direction mentioned in subsection (2) is lawful authority to the 27
chief executive (corrective services) for production of the prisoner as 28
directed. 29
(4) The chief executive (corrective services) must comply with the 30
direction served on the chief executive. 31
(5) A prisoner produced under this section remains in the custody of the 32
chief executive (corrective services). 33
(6) In this section-- 34
s 30 23 s 31
Ombudsman Bill 2001
"chief executive (corrective services)" means the chief executive of the 1
department that deals with matters under the Corrective Services 2
Act 2000. 3
"prisoner" means a person in the custody of the chief executive (corrective 4
services). 5
30 Compliance with investigation requirement 6
(1) A person who receives an investigation requirement must comply 7
with the requirement, unless the person has a reasonable excuse. 8
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 9
(2) An excuse is a reasonable excuse for subsection (1) if-- 10
(a) within the time for compliance with the investigation 11
requirement, the person gives the ombudsman a notice of the 12
excuse in enough detail to allow the ombudsman to form an 13
opinion on whether the excuse is reasonable; and 14
(b) the ombudsman advises the person that, in the ombudsman's 15
opinion, the excuse is reasonable. 16
(3) Subsection (2) does not limit what is a reasonable excuse. 17
31 Power of court if non-compliance with investigation requirement 18
(1) This section applies if, without reasonable excuse, a person fails to 19
comply with an investigation requirement. 20
(2) A Magistrates Court, at the request of the ombudsman, may issue a 21
subpoena requiring the attendance of the person before the ombudsman. 22
(3) The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999, other than rules 417, 418 23
and 420, apply to the subpoena. 24
25
Note--
26
See the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999, chapter 11 (Evidence), part 4
27
(Subpoenas) and rules 417 (Order for cost of complying with subpoena), 418 (Cost of
28
complying with subpoena if not a party) and 420 (Production by non-party).
(4) In this section-- 29
"subpoena" means-- 30
(a) a subpoena for production; or 31
s 32 24 s 34
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(b) a subpoena to give evidence; or 1
(c) a subpoena for production and to give evidence. 2
32 Custody of document given to ombudsman 3
(1) If a document or other thing is produced to the ombudsman under 4
this division-- 5
(a) the ombudsman may keep the document or thing for a reasonable 6
period for conducting the investigation; and 7
(b) if it is a document, take extracts from it and make copies of it. 8
(2) While the ombudsman has possession of the document or other thing, 9
the ombudsman must allow it to be inspected at any reasonable time by a 10
person who would have the right to inspect it if it were not in the 11
ombudsman's possession. 12
33 Way of giving information 13
(1) If a person is required to give information under this division, 14
whether or not through answering questions, the ombudsman may-- 15
(a) require the information to be given on oath; and 16
(b) administer the required oath. 17
(2) The oath to be taken by a person for this section is an oath that the 18
information the person will give will be true. 19
(3) A person required to give information on oath must not refuse to be 20
sworn. 21
Maximum penalty for subsection (3)--100 penalty units. 22
34 Investigation at agency premises 23
(1) The ombudsman may, on the giving of reasonable notice to the 24
principal officer of an agency, and at a reasonable time-- 25
(a) enter and inspect a place occupied by the agency; and 26
(b) take into the place the persons, equipment and materials the 27
ombudsman reasonably requires for the investigation; and 28
(c) take extracts from, or copy in any way, documents located at the 29
place; and 30
s 35 25 s 36
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(d) require an officer of the agency at the place to give the 1
ombudsman reasonable help in exercising the powers mentioned 2
in paragraphs (a) to (c). 3
(2) A person given a requirement under subsection (1)(d) must comply 4
with the requirement unless the person has a reasonable excuse. 5
Maximum penalty for subsection (2)--100 penalty units. 6
35 Expenses 7
(1) The ombudsman may pay the reasonable expenses incurred by a 8
person in complying with a requirement of the ombudsman under this 9
division or in otherwise helping the ombudsman in an investigation. 10
(2) In subsection (1)-- 11
"person" does not include any of the following-- 12
(a) an agency; 13
(b) an officer of an agency carrying out the officer's duties with the 14
agency; 15
(c) if the investigation arose from a complaint--the complainant. 16
Division 2--Arrest warrants 17
36 Application for arrest warrant 18
(1) The ombudsman may apply to a magistrate for a warrant for the 19
arrest of a person ("arrest warrant") if-- 20
(a) the person has not complied with an investigation requirement 21
given to the person under section 29(1)5 to attend before the 22
ombudsman; and 23
(b) the ombudsman has not given the person advice under 24
section 30(2)6 to the effect that an excuse given by the person for 25
not attending is, in the ombudsman's opinion, a reasonable 26
excuse; and 27
5 Section 29 (Requirement to attend to give document or information)
6 Section 30 (Compliance with investigation requirement)
s 37 26 s 38
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(c) the person has also not complied with a subpoena issued because 1
of the failure to comply with the investigation requirement. 2
(2) The application must be sworn and state the grounds on which the 3
warrant is sought. 4
(3) The magistrate may refuse to consider the application until the 5
ombudsman gives the magistrate all the information the magistrate requires 6
about the application in the way the magistrate requires. 7
8
Example--
9
The magistrate may require additional information supporting the application to be
10
given by statutory declaration.
37 Issue of arrest warrant 11
(1) The magistrate may issue an arrest warrant only if the magistrate is 12
satisfied-- 13
(a) the person has refused to attend before the ombudsman under an 14
investigation requirement or a subpoena; and 15
(b) the warrant is necessary to ensure the person attends before the 16
ombudsman. 17
(2) The warrant must state that a police officer may arrest the person 18
named in the warrant and cause the person to attend before the 19
ombudsman.7 20
Division 3--Contempt 21
38 Contempt of ombudsman 22
(1) A person is in contempt of the ombudsman if, in an investigation, the 23
person-- 24
(a) insults or threatens-- 25
7 For particular police powers relating to the arrest of a person, see the Police Powers
and Responsibilities Act 2000, section 19 (General power to enter to arrest or detain
someone or enforce warrant), section 376 (Power to use force against individuals),
and for what happens if the person can not be taken before the ombudsman on the
day of the arrest, section 226 (Duty of officer receiving custody of person arrested
under warrant other than for offence).
s 39 27 s 39
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(i) the ombudsman; or 1
(ii) a person who gives or is to give information or a document 2
to the ombudsman; or 3
(iii) a lawyer or other person helping a person who gives or is to 4
give information or a document to the ombudsman; or 5
(b) deliberately interrupts the ombudsman or otherwise behaves in a 6
disruptive way before the ombudsman; or 7
(c) creates or continues, or joins in creating or continuing, a 8
disturbance in or near the place where the ombudsman is 9
performing a function under this Act; or 10
(d) obstructs or assaults a person who attends, or is to attend, before 11
the ombudsman; or 12
(e) by writing or speech uses false and defamatory words about the 13
ombudsman; or 14
(f) does anything, whether before the ombudsman or otherwise, that 15
would be a contempt of court if the ombudsman were a judge 16
acting judicially; or 17
(g) publishes, or permits or allows to be published, information 18
given to the ombudsman, or any contents of a document 19
produced to the ombudsman, if the ombudsman has ordered that 20
the information or contents must not be published. 21
(2) In this section-- 22
"ombudsman" includes an officer of the ombudsman. 23
39 Punishment of contempt 24
(1) A person's contempt of the ombudsman may be punished under this 25
section. 26
(2) The ombudsman may certify the contempt in writing to the Supreme 27
Court (the "court"). 28
(3) For subsection (2), it is enough for the ombudsman to be satisfied 29
there is evidence of contempt. 30
(4) The court may issue a warrant directed to a police officer for the 31
arrest of the person to be brought before the court to be dealt with 32
according to law. 33
s 40 28 s 41
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(5) The Bail Act 1980 applies to the proceeding for the contempt started 1
by the certification in the same way it applies to a charge of an offence. 2
(6) The court must inquire into the alleged contempt. 3
(7) The court must hear-- 4
(a) witnesses and evidence that may be produced against or for the 5
person whose contempt was certified; and 6
(b) any statement given by the person in defence. 7
(8) If the court is satisfied the person has committed the contempt, the 8
court may punish the person as if the person had committed the contempt 9
in a proceeding in the court for the enforcement of a non-money order. 10
(9) The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999, so far as they relate to the 11
enforcement of non-money orders, apply, with necessary changes, to the 12
court's investigation, hearing and power to punish. 13
(10) The ombudsman's certificate of contempt is evidence of the matters 14
stated in the certificate. 15
40 Conduct that is contempt and offence 16
(1) If conduct of an offender is both contempt of the ombudsman and an 17
offence, the offender may be proceeded against for the contempt or for the 18
offence, but the offender is not liable to be punished twice for the same 19
conduct. 20
(2) In this section-- 21
"offender" means a person guilty, or alleged to be guilty, of contempt of 22
the ombudsman. 23
Division 4--Offences 24
41 False or misleading statement 25
(1) A person must not state anything to the ombudsman or an officer of 26
the ombudsman the person knows is false or misleading in a material 27
particular. 28
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 29
s 42 29 s 43
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(2) It is enough for a complaint against a person for an offence against 1
subsection (1) to state the statement made was, without specifying which, 2
`false or misleading'. 3
42 False or misleading document 4
(1) A person must not give the ombudsman or an officer of the 5
ombudsman a document containing information the person knows is false 6
or misleading in a material particular. 7
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 8
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person if the person, when giving 9
the document-- 10
(a) tells the ombudsman or officer, to the best of the person's ability, 11
how the information in the document is false or misleading; and 12
(b) if the person, has, or can reasonably obtain, the correct 13
information--gives the correct information. 14
(3) It is enough for a complaint against a person for an offence against 15
subsection (1) to state the information in the document was, without 16
specifying which, `false or misleading'. 17
43 Offence to assault or obstruct ombudsman or officer of 18
ombudsman 19
(1) A person must not assault or obstruct the ombudsman or an officer of 20
the ombudsman in the performance of duties under this Act. 21
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units or 6 months imprisonment. 22
(2) In this section-- 23
"assault" has the meaning given by the Criminal Code, section 245. 24
"obstruct" includes hinder, resist and attempt to obstruct. 25
s 44 30 s 45
Ombudsman Bill 2001
PART 5--OTHER PROVISIONS SUPPORTING 1
PERFORMANCE OF OMBUDSMAN'S FUNCTIONS 2
44 Application of Criminal Code 3
(1) The Criminal Code, sections 120, 123, 123A, 124, 125, 126, 127, 4
128, 129 and 130 ("identified provisions")8 apply, with necessary 5
changes, to investigations under this Act. 6
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), for applying the identified 7
provisions to an investigation-- 8
(a) the investigation is a judicial proceeding; and 9
(b) the ombudsman is the holder of a judicial office; and 10
(c) a reference to judicial capacity is a reference to capacity as 11
ombudsman; and 12
(d) a reference to the giving or withholding of testimony is a 13
reference to the giving or withholding of information; and 14
(e) a reference to a witness is a reference to a person from whom the 15
ombudsman may obtain information; and 16
(f) a reference to being required or used in evidence is a reference to 17
being required or used for the obtaining of information; and 18
(g) a reference to being summoned to attend as a witness is a 19
reference to being asked or required to attend to give 20
information; and 21
(h) a reference to a tribunal is a reference to the ombudsman. 22
45 Information disclosure and privilege 23
(1) No obligation to maintain secrecy or other restriction on the 24
disclosure of information obtained by or given to officers of an agency, 25
whether imposed by any Act or by a rule of law, applies to the disclosure of 26
8 The Criminal Code, sections 120 (Judicial corruption), 123 (Perjury),
123A (Perjury--contradictory statements), 124 (Punishment of perjury),
125 (Evidence on charge of perjury), 126 (Fabricating evidence), 127 (Corruption of
witnesses), 128 (Deceiving witnesses), 129 (Destroying evidence) and
130 (Preventing witnesses from attending)
s 46 31 s 46
Ombudsman Bill 2001
information relevant to a preliminary inquiry or an investigation by the 1
ombudsman. 2
(2) In a preliminary inquiry or an investigation, the State or an agency is 3
not entitled to any privilege that would apply to the production of 4
documents, or the giving of evidence, relevant to the investigation, in a 5
legal proceeding. 6
(3) A person has, for the giving of information and the production of 7
documents or other things relevant to a preliminary inquiry or an 8
investigation, equivalent privileges to the privileges the person would have 9
as a witness in proceedings in a court. 10
(4) Subsection (3) has effect subject to subsections (1) and (2) and part 4, 11
division 1.9 12
46 Disclosure of certain matters not required 13
(1) This Act does not require or authorise a person-- 14
(a) to give any information or answer any question relating to 15
proceedings of Cabinet or a committee of Cabinet; or 16
(b) to produce or inspect a document to the extent it relates to 17
proceedings mentioned in paragraph (a). 18
(2) For subsection (1), a certificate issued by the chief executive of a 19
department administered by the Premier, with the Premier's approval, 20
certifying that any information or question, or any document or part of a 21
document, relates to any proceedings mentioned in subsection (1) is 22
conclusive of the fact so certified. 23
(3) The ombudsman must not require-- 24
(a) any information or answer to be given; or 25
(b) the production of any document or thing; 26
if the Attorney-General certifies, in writing, that the giving of the 27
information, or the answering of the question, or the production of the 28
document or thing might prejudice the security of the State or the 29
investigation or detection of offences. 30
9 Part 4 (Powers and procedures for investigations), division 1 (Ombudsman's powers
for conducting investigations)
s 47 32 s 48
Ombudsman Bill 2001
47 Protection of person helping ombudsman 1
(1) This section applies if a person ("relevant person") gives 2
information or a document to the ombudsman for the purposes of a 3
preliminary inquiry or an investigation. 4
(2) A person must not cause, threaten to cause, or attempt or conspire to 5
cause or induce someone else to cause, detriment to the relevant person 6
because, or substantially because, the relevant person gave the information 7
or document to the ombudsman. 8
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 9
(3) In this section-- 10
"detriment", to a person, includes dismissal of the person from the 11
person's employment. 12
48 Inadmissibility of particular document given under investigation 13
requirement 14
(1) This section applies if a person-- 15
(a) gives a document to the ombudsman under an investigation 16
requirement; and 17
(b) the document did not exist before the investigation requirement 18
and was created only for the purposes of complying with the 19
requirement. 20
(2) The document is not admissible in evidence against a person in civil 21
or criminal proceedings. 22
(3) In this section-- 23
"civil or criminal proceedings" does not include proceedings about the 24
falsity of information or a document. 25
s 49 33 s 50
Ombudsman Bill 2001
PART 6--REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1
Division 1--Reports on particular investigations 2
49 Investigations to which div 1 applies 3
(1) This division applies to an investigation, other than an investigation 4
started because of a parliamentary reference. 5
(2) However, this division applies to an investigation only if the 6
ombudsman considers that the administrative action to which the 7
investigation relates-- 8
(a) was taken contrary to law; or 9
(b) was unreasonable, unjust, oppressive, or improperly 10
discriminatory; or 11
(c) was in accordance with a rule of law or a provision of an Act or a 12
practice that is or may be unreasonable, unjust, oppressive, or 13
improperly discriminatory in the particular circumstances; or 14
(d) was taken-- 15
(i) for an improper purpose; or 16
(ii) on irrelevant grounds; or 17
(iii) having regard to irrelevant considerations; or 18
(e) was an action for which reasons should have been given, but 19
were not given; or 20
(f) was based wholly or partly on a mistake of law or fact; or 21
(g) was wrong. 22
50 Report and recommendation 23
(1) If the ombudsman considers-- 24
(a) that the administrative action should be referred to the 25
appropriate agency for further consideration; or 26
(b) that action can be, and should be, taken to rectify, mitigate or 27
alter the effects of, the administrative action; or 28
s 51 34 s 51
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(c) that any practice in accordance with which the administrative 1
action was taken should be varied; or 2
(d) that any law under which, or on the basis of which, the 3
administrative action was taken should be reconsidered; or 4
(e) that reasons, or further reasons, should be given for the 5
administrative action; or 6
(f) that any other steps should be taken; 7
the ombudsman may give to the principal officer of the appropriate agency 8
a report stating the action the ombudsman considers should be taken and 9
the reasons the action should be taken, and making the recommendations 10
the ombudsman considers appropriate. 11
(2) If, during or after the investigation, the ombudsman considers there is 12
evidence of a breach of duty or misconduct on the part of an officer of an 13
agency, the ombudsman-- 14
(a) must give a report about the breach of duty or misconduct to the 15
agency's principal officer; and 16
(b) may, if the ombudsman considers it appropriate in the 17
circumstances, send a copy of the report to-- 18
(i) the responsible Minister for the agency; and 19
(ii) if the agency is a local government, the local government's 20
chairperson, mayor or president. 21
22
Note--
23
It is also the case that the Criminal Justice Act 1989, section 37(2)(a) (Referral of
24
matter to section) requires the ombudsman to refer matters involving, or possibly
25
involving, official misconduct under that Act to the complaints section established
26
under that Act.
(3) If subsection (2) does not apply, the ombudsman may send a copy of 27
the report to the responsible Minister. 28
(4) If the agency is a local government, the principal officer must give a 29
copy of the report and any recommendations to all the members, however 30
named, of the local government. 31
51 Action after report making recommendations 32
(1) This section applies if the ombudsman gives to the principal officer 33
of an agency a report under section 50 that makes recommendations. 34
s 52 35 s 53
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(2) The ombudsman may ask the agency's principal officer to notify the 1
ombudsman within a stated time of-- 2
(a) the steps taken or proposed to be taken to give effect to the 3
recommendations; or 4
(b) if no steps, or only some steps, have been or are proposed to be 5
taken to give effect to the recommendations, the reasons for not 6
taking all the steps necessary to give effect to the 7
recommendations. 8
(3) If-- 9
(a) it appears to the ombudsman that no steps the ombudsman 10
considers appropriate have been taken within a reasonable time 11
after giving the agency's principal officer the report; and 12
(b) within that time, the ombudsman has considered any comments 13
made by or for the principal officer; and 14
(c) the ombudsman considers it appropriate; 15
the ombudsman may give the Premier a copy of the report and a copy of 16
any comments made by the agency's principal officer. 17
(4) If the ombudsman gives the Premier a copy of a report (the "original 18
report") and a copy of any comments, the ombudsman may give the 19
Speaker, for tabling in the Assembly, another report that deals, to the extent 20
the ombudsman considers appropriate, with the original report and the 21
comments. 22
Division 2--Other reports 23
52 Report to Assembly on ombudsman's initiative 24
If the ombudsman considers it appropriate, the ombudsman may give to 25
the Speaker at any time, for tabling in the Assembly, a report on a matter 26
arising out of the performance of the ombudsman's functions. 27
53 Report on parliamentary reference 28
If the ombudsman investigates administrative action because of a 29
parliamentary reference, the ombudsman must give a report on the 30
investigation to the Speaker for tabling in the Assembly. 31
s 54 36 s 56
Ombudsman Bill 2001
54 Other reports on authority of speaker 1
The Speaker may, at the ombudsman's written request, authorise the 2
ombudsman to publish, in the public interest or in the interests of any 3
agency, organisation or person-- 4
(a) a report relating generally to the performance of the 5
ombudsman's functions; or 6
(b) a report relating to any particular case investigated by the 7
ombudsman; 8
whether or not the matters to be dealt with in the report have been the 9
subject of a report tabled in the Assembly under this Act. 10
Division 3--Miscellaneous 11
55 Report containing adverse comment 12
(1) This section applies if the ombudsman proposes to make an adverse 13
comment about a person in a report under this Act. 14
(2) The ombudsman must not make the proposed adverse comment 15
unless, before the report is prepared, the ombudsman gives the person an 16
opportunity to make submissions about the proposed adverse comment. 17
(3) If the person makes submissions and the ombudsman still proposes to 18
make the adverse comment, the ombudsman must ensure the person's 19
defence is fairly stated in the report. 20
56 Report not to disclose identities in particular circumstances 21
(1) This section applies if-- 22
(a) the ombudsman investigates a matter involving a person; and 23
(b) under an Act, the identity of the person must not be disclosed. 24
(2) The ombudsman must not disclose the identity of the person, or 25
information from which the person's identity could be deduced, in any 26
report under section 51(4) or division 2. 27
s 57 37 s 60
Ombudsman Bill 2001
57 Information to complainant on completion of investigation 1
If the ombudsman investigates administrative action because of a 2
complaint, the ombudsman must, as soon as possible, inform the 3
complainant, in the way the ombudsman considers appropriate, of the 4
result of the investigation. 5
PART 7--PARTICULAR PROVISIONS ABOUT THE 6
OMBUDSMAN 7
Division 1--Appointment 8
58 Appointment 9
(1) The ombudsman is appointed by the Governor in Council. 10
(2) The ombudsman is appointed under this Act and not under the Public 11
Service Act 1996. 12
59 Procedure before appointment 13
(1) A person may be appointed as ombudsman only if-- 14
(a) the Minister has placed press advertisements nationally calling 15
for applications from suitably qualified persons to be considered 16
for appointment; and 17
(b) the Minister has consulted with the parliamentary committee 18
about-- 19
(i) the process of selection for appointment; and 20
(ii) the appointment of the person as ombudsman. 21
(2) Subsection (1)(a) and (b)(i) does not apply to the reappointment of a 22
person as ombudsman. 23
60 Ineligibility for appointment 24
A person must not be appointed as ombudsman if the person has been, 25
within the last 3 years-- 26
s 61 38 s 64
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(a) a member of the Parliament of the State, another State or the 1
Commonwealth; or 2
(b) the holder of-- 3
(i) the office of the chairperson, the mayor, the president, a 4
councillor or a member of a local government; or 5
(ii) an office in another State equivalent to an office mentioned 6
in subparagraph (i). 7
61 Term of appointment 8
(1) The ombudsman holds office for the term, of not more than 5 years, 9
stated in the instrument of appointment and may be reappointed. 10
(2) However, a person must not be reappointed if the total of the person's 11
terms of appointment would be more than 10 years. 12
62 Remuneration and conditions 13
(1) The ombudsman is to be paid remuneration and travelling and other 14
allowances decided by the Governor in Council. 15
(2) The remuneration paid to the ombudsman must not be reduced 16
during the ombudsman's term of office without the ombudsman's written 17
consent. 18
(3) The ombudsman is entitled to the leave of absence decided by the 19
Governor in Council. 20
63 Oath before performing duties 21
(1) Before performing the duties of office, the ombudsman must make an 22
oath to the effect that he or she will faithfully and impartially perform the 23
duties of the office. 24
(2) The oath must be administered by the Speaker. 25
64 Restriction on outside employment 26
(1) The ombudsman must not, without the Minister's prior approval in 27
each particular case-- 28
(a) hold any office of profit other than that of ombudsman; or 29
s 65 39 s 67
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(b) engage in any remunerative employment or undertaking outside 1
the duties of the office. 2
(2) Contravention of subsection (1) is misconduct under division 2. 3
65 Acting ombudsman 4
(1) The Governor in Council may appoint a person eligible for 5
appointment as ombudsman to act as ombudsman-- 6
(a) during a vacancy in the office; or 7
(b) during any period, or during all periods, when the ombudsman is 8
absent from duty or from the State or is, for another reason, 9
unable to perform the duties of the office. 10
(2) The acting ombudsman is appointed under this Act and not the Public 11
Service Act 1996. 12
(3) The Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 25(1)(b)(iv) and (v) does 13
not apply to the office of acting ombudsman.10 14
Division 2--Ombudsman may be removed or suspended from office 15
66 Grounds for removal or suspension from office 16
The following are grounds for removal or suspension of the ombudsman 17
from office-- 18
(a) proved incapacity, incompetence or misconduct; 19
(b) conviction of an indictable offence. 20
67 Removal of ombudsman on address 21
(1) The Governor may, on an address from the Assembly, remove the 22
ombudsman from office. 23
(2) The motion for the address may be moved only by the Premier. 24
(3) The Premier may move the motion only if-- 25
10 Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 25 (Powers of appointment imply certain
incidental powers)
s 68 40 s 68
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(a) the Premier has given the ombudsman a statement setting out the 1
reasons for the motion; and 2
(b) the statement and any written response by the ombudsman have 3
been tabled in the Assembly; and 4
(c) the Premier has consulted with the parliamentary committee 5
about the motion; and 6
(d) agreement to the motion has been obtained from-- 7
(i) all members of the parliamentary committee; or 8
(ii) a majority of members of the parliamentary committee, 9
other than a majority consisting wholly of members of the 10
political party or parties in government in the Assembly. 11
68 Suspension of ombudsman on address 12
(1) The Governor may, on an address from the Assembly, suspend the 13
ombudsman from office. 14
(2) The motion for the address may be moved only by the Premier. 15
(3) The Premier may move the motion only if-- 16
(a) the Premier has given the ombudsman a statement setting out the 17
reasons for the motion; and 18
(b) the statement and any written response by the ombudsman have 19
been tabled in the Assembly; and 20
(c) the Premier has consulted with the parliamentary committee 21
about the motion; and 22
(d) agreement to the motion has been obtained from-- 23
(i) all members of the parliamentary committee; or 24
(ii) a majority of members of the parliamentary committee, 25
other than a majority consisting wholly of members of the 26
political party or parties in government in the Assembly. 27
(4) The ombudsman is entitled to be paid salary and allowances for the 28
period of the suspension only if-- 29
(a) the Assembly resolves that salary and allowances be paid for the 30
period; or 31
s 69 41 s 70
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(b) the Assembly does not pass a resolution under paragraph (a) and 1
the Governor in Council approves the payment of salary and 2
allowances for the period. 3
69 Suspension of ombudsman if Assembly not sitting 4
(1) If the Assembly is not sitting, the Governor in Council may suspend 5
the ombudsman from office. 6
(2) The Governor in Council may suspend the ombudsman only if-- 7
(a) the Premier has given the ombudsman a statement setting out the 8
reasons for the suspension; and 9
(b) the Premier has considered any response by the ombudsman to 10
the statement. 11
(3) The Premier must table the statement and any written response by the 12
ombudsman in the Assembly within 3 sitting days after the day the 13
suspension begins. 14
(4) The suspension stops having effect-- 15
(a) at the end of 6 sitting days after the day the suspension begins; or 16
(b) if the ombudsman is earlier suspended or removed from office on 17
an address from the Assembly--at the earlier time. 18
(5) If the suspension stops having effect under subsection (4)(a), the 19
ombudsman is entitled to be paid salary and allowances for the period of 20
the suspension. 21
70 Acts Interpretation Act 1954 22
The Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 25(1)(b)(i) to (iii) does not 23
apply to the removal or suspension of the ombudsman.11 24
11 Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 25 (Powers of appointment imply certain
incidental powers)
s 71 42 s 74
Ombudsman Bill 2001
Division 3--Resignation and vacation of office 1
71 Resignation 2
The ombudsman may, at any time, resign office as ombudsman by signed 3
writing, addressed to the Governor. 4
72 Vacation of office 5
The ombudsman is taken to resign office as ombudsman on becoming a 6
candidate for election to-- 7
(a) the Assembly, or the Parliament of another State or of the 8
Commonwealth; or 9
(b) the office of the chairperson, the mayor, the president, a 10
councillor or a member of a local government; or 11
(c) an office in another State equivalent to an office mentioned in 12
paragraph (b). 13
PART 8--ADMINISTRATION 14
Division 1--Establishment and control of office 15
73 Office of the Ombudsman 16
(1) An office called the Office of the Ombudsman is established. 17
(2) The ombudsman office consists of the ombudsman and the officers of 18
the ombudsman. 19
74 Control of office 20
The ombudsman controls the ombudsman office. 21
s 75 43 s 78
Ombudsman Bill 2001
75 Officers not subject to outside direction 1
An officer of the ombudsman is not subject to direction by any person, 2
other than from within the ombudsman office, about-- 3
(a) the way the ombudsman's powers for investigations are to be 4
exercised; or 5
(b) the priority given to investigations. 6
Division 2--Staff of the office 7
76 Officers 8
(1) The ombudsman may employ the officers the ombudsman considers 9
necessary for staffing the ombudsman office. 10
(2) Officers are appointed under this Act and not the Public Service Act 11
1996. 12
(3) Subject to this Act, the conditions of service of officers of the 13
ombudsman are those decided by the Governor in Council. 14
77 Secondment as officer of ombudsman 15
(1) A public service officer may be seconded to the ombudsman office. 16
(2) While seconded under this section-- 17
(a) the person is taken to be an officer of the ombudsman; and 18
(b) the Public Service Act 1996 does not apply to the person. 19
78 Temporary and casual employees 20
(1) The ombudsman may employ the temporary and casual employees 21
the ombudsman considers necessary for this Act. 22
(2) The ombudsman may decide the employee's terms of employment. 23
(3) However, subsection (2) has effect subject to any relevant industrial 24
instrument within the meaning of the Industrial Relations Act 1999. 25
(4) Employees of the ombudsman are employed under this Act and not 26
the Public Service Act 1996. 27
s 79 44 s 81
Ombudsman Bill 2001
Division 3--Preservation of rights 1
79 Preservation of rights if public service officer appointed 2
(1) A public service officer who is appointed to an office under this Act is 3
entitled to retain all existing and accruing rights as if service in that office 4
were a continuation of service as a public service officer. 5
(2) If the person stops holding the office for a reason other than 6
misconduct, the person is entitled to be employed as a public service 7
officer. 8
(3) The person is to be employed on the classification level and 9
remuneration that the public service commissioner or another entity 10
prescribed under a regulation considers the person would have attained in 11
the ordinary course of progression if the person had continued in 12
employment as a public service officer. 13
80 Preservation of rights if person becomes public service officer 14
(1) On the appointment of a person holding office under this Act as a 15
public service officer, the person's service in the ombudsman office under 16
this Act must be regarded as service as a public service officer 17
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the ombudsman or acting 18
ombudsman if the person is guilty of misconduct in office as ombudsman 19
or acting ombudsman. 20
81 Preservation of ombudsman's rights if not previously public 21
service officer 22
(1) This section applies to a person who stops holding office as 23
ombudsman, whether because of resignation or ending a term of 24
appointment, if the person was not a public service officer but held another 25
office under the State immediately before appointment as ombudsman. 26
(2) The person is entitled to be appointed to an office under the State 27
with a classification and remuneration corresponding with or higher than 28
that of the office the person held immediately before appointment as 29
ombudsman and the person's service in the office of ombudsman under this 30
Act must be regarded as service in an office under the State. 31
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to the person if the person is guilty of 32
misconduct in office as ombudsman. 33
s 82 45 s 83
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(4) In this section-- 1
"ombudsman" includes acting ombudsman. 2
82 Preservation of rights if public service officer seconded 3
(1) A public service officer seconded under section 77-- 4
(a) is entitled to the person's existing and accruing rights as if 5
employment as an officer of the ombudsman were a continuation 6
of employment as a public service officer; and 7
(b) may apply for positions, and be employed, in the public service 8
as if the person were a public service officer. 9
(2) On ending the secondment, the person's employment on secondment 10
as an officer of the ombudsman is taken to be employment of the same 11
nature in the public service for working out the person's rights as a public 12
service officer. 13
(3) If the secondment ended for a reason other than misconduct, the 14
person is entitled to be employed as a public service officer. 15
(4) The person is entitled to be employed on the same, or a higher, 16
classification level and remuneration that the public service commissioner 17
or another entity prescribed under a regulation considers the person would 18
have attained in the ordinary course of progression if the person had not 19
been seconded. 20
Division 4--Strategic review 21
83 Strategic review of ombudsman office 22
(1) Strategic reviews of the ombudsman office are to be conducted under 23
this division. 24
(2) A strategic review is to be conducted at least every 5 years, counting 25
from when the report (the "earlier report") for the most recent earlier 26
strategic review was given to the Minister and the ombudsman under 27
section 85(4),12 up to when the reviewer is appointed under subsection (4) 28
to undertake the latest strategic review. 29
12 Section 85 (Report of strategic review)
s 84 46 s 84
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(3) However, if the parliamentary committee reported to the Assembly 1
about the earlier report, and the committee's report made recommendations 2
to which a Minister was required to respond under the Parliamentary 3
Committees Act 1995, section 24,13 the 5 years is counted from when the 4
Minister's response was tabled under that section. 5
(4) Each strategic review is to be undertaken by an appropriately 6
qualified person ("reviewer"), appointed by the Governor in Council, who 7
is to give a report on the review. 8
(5) The terms of reference for a strategic review are to be decided by the 9
Governor in Council. 10
(6) Before a reviewer is appointed to conduct a strategic review, the 11
Minister must consult with the parliamentary committee and the 12
ombudsman about-- 13
(a) the appointment of the reviewer; and 14
(b) the terms of reference for the review. 15
(7) The remuneration and other terms of appointment of the reviewer are 16
as decided by the Governor in Council. 17
(8) In this section-- 18
"strategic review" includes-- 19
(a) a review of the ombudsman's functions; and 20
(b) a review of the ombudsman's performance of the functions to 21
assess whether they are being performed economically, 22
effectively and efficiently. 23
84 Conduct of strategic review 24
In conducting a strategic review-- 25
(a) the reviewer has the powers an authorised auditor has under the 26
Financial Administration and Audit Act 1977 for an audit of an 27
entity; and 28
(b) that Act and other Acts apply to the reviewer as if the reviewer 29
were an authorised auditor conducting an audit of an entity. 30
13 Parliamentary Committees Act 1995, section 24 (Ministerial response to committee
reports)
s 85 47 s 86
Ombudsman Bill 2001
85 Report of strategic review 1
(1) The reviewer for a strategic review must give a copy of the proposed 2
report on the review to the Minister and the ombudsman. 3
(2) The ombudsman may, within 21 days after receiving the proposed 4
report, give the reviewer written comments on anything in the proposed 5
report. 6
(3) If the ombudsman comments under subsection (2), the reviewer 7
must-- 8
(a) if the reviewer and ombudsman can agree about how to dispose 9
of a comment--incorporate into the report any agreed 10
amendment necessary to dispose of the comment; or 11
(b) if the reviewer and ombudsman can not agree about how to 12
dispose of a comment--include the comment, in full, in the 13
report. 14
(4) After complying with subsections (1) and (3), the reviewer must give 15
the report ("review report") to the Minister and the ombudsman. 16
(5) The review report must be the same as the proposed report given to 17
them under subsection (1), apart from the changes made under 18
subsection (3). 19
(6) The Minister must table the review report in the Assembly within 20
3 sitting days after the Minister receives the report. 21
(7) For the Parliamentary Committees Act 1995, section 8(2),14 the 22
report is referred to the parliamentary committee. 23
Division 5--Other matters 24
86 Delegation 25
The ombudsman may delegate the ombudsman's powers under this Act, 26
other than the power to make a report or recommendation, to an officer of 27
the ombudsman. 28
14 Parliamentary Committees Act 1995, section 8 (Role of statutory committees)
s 87 48 s 88
Ombudsman Bill 2001
87 Annual report 1
(1) For the application of Financial Administration Act, section 3915 to 2
the office-- 3
(a) the appropriate Minister is the Minister for the time being 4
administering this section; and 5
(b) the Financial Administration Act, section 39(4)(c) may be 6
ignored. 7
(2) When, under the Financial Administration Act, section 39(1), the 8
ombudsman gives the appropriate Minister a written report and a copy of 9
the report to the Treasurer, the ombudsman must also give a copy of the 10
report to the Speaker and the parliamentary committee. 11
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not limit any other provision of this Act 12
under which the ombudsman may make a report. 13
(4) In this section-- 14
"Financial Administration Act" means the Financial Administration and 15
Audit Act 1977. 16
88 Estimates 17
(1) The ombudsman must prepare, for each financial year, estimates of 18
proposed receipts and expenditure relating to the ombudsman. 19
(2) The ombudsman must give the estimates to the Minister responsible 20
for the administration of the Financial Administration and Audit Act 1977, 21
part 2. 22
(3) The Minister mentioned in subsection (2) must consult with the 23
parliamentary committee in developing the proposed budget of the 24
ombudsman for each financial year. 25
15 Financial Administration and Audit Act 1977, section 39 (Annual report by
department and short form annual report)
s 89 49 s 90
Ombudsman Bill 2001
PART 9--PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE 1
89 Functions 2
The parliamentary committee has the following functions under this 3
Act-- 4
(a) to monitor and review the performance by the ombudsman of the 5
ombudsman's functions under this Act; 6
(b) to report to the Assembly on any matter concerning the 7
ombudsman, the ombudsman's functions or the performance of 8
the ombudsman's functions that the committee considers should 9
be drawn to the Assembly's attention; 10
(c) to examine each annual report tabled in the Assembly under this 11
Act and, if appropriate, to comment on any aspect of the report; 12
(d) to report to the Assembly any changes to the functions, structures 13
and procedures of the office of ombudsman the committee 14
considers desirable for the more effective operation of this Act; 15
(e) the other functions conferred on the parliamentary committee by 16
this Act.16 17
PART 10--MISCELLANEOUS 18
90 Right to interpreter or other help 19
(1) This section applies if the ombudsman considers a person 20
(the "relevant person") dealing with the ombudsman under this Act before 21
or in an investigation is unable, because of inadequate knowledge of the 22
English language or, for another reason, to understand English or speak 23
English with reasonable fluency. 24
(2) The ombudsman must take all reasonable steps to ensure an 25
interpreter or other suitable person is available to help the relevant person 26
and the ombudsman communicate effectively. 27
16 The parliamentary committee also has functions under the Parliamentary
Committees Act 1995, section 10.
s 91 50 s 93
Ombudsman Bill 2001
91 Prohibiting publication of information 1
The ombudsman may, if the ombudsman considers it appropriate in a 2
particular case, order that information given to the ombudsman in 3
performing a function under this Act, or the contents of a document 4
produced to the ombudsman in performing a function under this Act, must 5
not be published. 6
92 Secrecy 7
(1) An officer of the ombudsman, an officer of an agency, or another 8
person who obtains information in a preliminary inquiry or an investigation 9
or the performance of another function of the ombudsman under this Act 10
must not-- 11
(a) disclose the information other than as a part of-- 12
(i) the performance of the function; or 13
(ii) formulating a report about the performance of the function; 14
or 15
(iii) formulating a recommendation arising out of the 16
performance of the function; or 17
(iv) proceedings for an offence under this Act alleged to have 18
been committed in the performance of the function; or 19
(b) use the information to benefit any person. 20
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 21
(2) In this section-- 22
"officer of the ombudsman" includes the ombudsman. 23
93 Protection from liability 24
(1) An officer of the ombudsman does not incur civil liability for an act 25
done, or omission made, honestly and without negligence under this Act. 26
(2) If subsection (1) prevents a civil liability attaching to an officer of the 27
ombudsman, the liability attaches instead to the State. 28
(3) In this section-- 29
"officer of the ombudsman" includes the ombudsman. 30
s 94 51 s 98
Ombudsman Bill 2001
94 Regulation-making power 1
The Governor in Council may make regulations under this Act. 2
PART 11--REPEAL AND AMENDMENT 3
95 Repeal of Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974 4
The Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974 (1974 Act No. 19) is 5
repealed. 6
96 Acts amended in sch 1 7
Schedule 1 amends the Acts it mentions. 8
PART 12--TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS 9
97 Definitions for pt 12 10
In this part-- 11
"parliamentary commissioner" means the Parliamentary Commissioner 12
for Administrative Investigations under the repealed Act. 13
"repealed Act" means the repealed Parliamentary Commissioner Act 14
1974. 15
98 Continuation of appointments 16
(1) On the commencement of this section, a person holding a position or 17
office under the repealed Act continues as the holder of the equivalent 18
position or office under this Act. 19
(2) The person's appointment to the position or office has continuing 20
effect under this Act. 21
(3) If the appointment was for a term-- 22
s 99 52 s 103
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(a) the appointment continues under this Act for the unexpired 1
period of the term; and 2
(b) for applying section 61(2)17 to the person who, immediately 3
before the commencement of this section, was, under the 4
repealed Act, the parliamentary commissioner, the term of 5
appointment under that Act is taken to be a term of appointment 6
as ombudsman under this Act. 7
99 Continuation of actions 8
On the commencement of this section, anything started but not 9
completed under the repealed Act may be continued under this Act. 10
100 Investigation of certain administrative action 11
The ombudsman may perform functions under this Act in relation to 12
administrative action taken before the commencement of this section as if 13
the action had been taken after the commencement. 14
101 Strategic review 15
A report of a strategic review under section 32 of the repealed Act is 16
taken to be an earlier report of a strategic review for section 83(2).18 17
102 Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974 references 18
A reference in any Act or document to the Parliamentary Commissioner 19
Act 1974 may, if the context permits, be read as a reference to this Act. 20
103 Parliamentary commissioner and other references 21
A reference in any Act or document to the parliamentary commissioner 22
or acting parliamentary commissioner may, if the context permits, be read 23
as a reference to the ombudsman or acting ombudsman. 24
17 Section 61 (Term of appointment)
18 Section 83 (Strategic review of office)
s 104 53 s 105
Ombudsman Bill 2001
PART 13--AMENDMENT OF FINANCIAL 1
ADMINISTRATION AND AUDIT ACT 1977 2
104 Act amended in pt 13 3
This part amends the Financial Administration and Audit Act 1977. 4
105 Replacement of s 72 (Strategic review of audit office) 5
Section 72-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`Division 6--Strategic review 8
`72 Strategic review of audit office 9
`(1) Strategic reviews of the audit office are to be conducted under this 10
division. 11
`(2) A strategic review is to be conducted at least every 5 years, counting 12
from when the report (the "earlier report") for the most recent earlier 13
strategic review was given to the Minister and the auditor-general under 14
section 72B(4),19 up to when the reviewer is appointed under subsection (4) 15
to undertake the latest strategic review. 16
`(3) However, if the parliamentary committee reported to the Legislative 17
Assembly about the earlier report, and the committee's report made 18
recommendations to which a Minister was required to respond under the 19
Parliamentary Committees Act 1995, section 24,20 the 5 years is counted 20
from when the Minister's response was tabled under that section. 21
`(4) Each strategic review is to be undertaken by an appropriately 22
qualified person ("reviewer"), appointed by the Governor in Council, who 23
is to give a report on the review. 24
`(5) The terms of reference for a strategic review are to be decided by the 25
Governor in Council. 26
19 Section 72B (Report of strategic review)
20 Parliamentary Committees Act 1995, section 24 (Ministerial response to committee
reports)
s 105 54 s 105
Ombudsman Bill 2001
`(6) Before a reviewer is appointed to conduct a strategic review, the 1
Minister must consult with the parliamentary committee and the 2
auditor-general about-- 3
(a) the appointment of the reviewer; and 4
(b) the terms of reference for the review. 5
`(7) The remuneration and other terms of appointment of the reviewer 6
are as decided by the Governor in Council. 7
`(8) In this section-- 8
"strategic review" includes-- 9
(a) a review of the auditor-general's functions; and 10
(b) a review of the auditor-general's performance of the functions to 11
assess whether they are being performed economically, 12
effectively and efficiently. 13
`72A Conduct of strategic review 14
`In conducting a strategic review-- 15
(a) the reviewer has the powers an authorised auditor has for an audit 16
of an entity; and 17
(b) this Act and other Acts apply to the reviewer as if the reviewer 18
were an authorised auditor conducting an audit of an entity. 19
`72B Report of strategic review 20
`(1) The reviewer for a strategic review must give the copy of a proposed 21
report on the strategic review to the Minister and the auditor-general. 22
`(2) The auditor-general may, within 21 days after receiving the 23
proposed report, give the reviewer written comments on anything in the 24
proposed report. 25
`(3) If the auditor-general comments under subsection (2), the reviewer 26
must-- 27
(a) if the reviewer and auditor-general can agree about how to 28
dispose of a comment--incorporate into the report any agreed 29
amendment necessary to dispose of the comment; or 30
s 106 55 s 107
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(b) if the reviewer and auditor-general can not agree about how to 1
dispose of a comment--include the comment, in full, in the 2
report. 3
`(4) After complying with subsections (1) and (3), the reviewer must 4
give the report ("review report") to the Minister and the auditor-general. 5
`(5) The review report must be the same as the proposed report given to 6
them under subsection (1), apart from the changes made under 7
subsection (3). 8
`(6) The Minister must table the review report in the Legislative 9
Assembly within 3 sitting days after the Minister receives the report. 10
`(7) For the Parliamentary Committees Act 1995, section 8(2),21 the 11
report is referred to the parliamentary committee.'. 12
106 Insertion of new pt 8, div 4 13
Part 8, after section 140-- 14
insert-- 15
`Division 4--Transitional provision for Ombudsman Act 2001 16
`141 Strategic review 17
`(1) A report of a strategic review under former section 72 is taken to be 18
an earlier report of a strategic review for new section 72(2). 19
`(2) In this section-- 20
"former section 72" means section 72 of this Act as in force immediately 21
before the commencement of this section. 22
"new section 72" means section 72 as inserted by the Ombudsman Act 23
2001.'. 24
107 Amendment of sch 1 (Other accountable officers for certain 25
bodies) 26
(1) Schedule 1, under the heading `Accountable officer', `Parliamentary 27
Commissioner for Administrative Investigations'-- 28
21 Parliamentary Committees Act 1995, section 8 (Role of statutory committees)
s 108 56 s 109
Ombudsman Bill 2001
omit, insert-- 1
`Ombudsman'. 2
(2) Schedule 1, under the heading `Body', `Parliamentary Commissioner 3
for Administrative Investigations'-- 4
omit, insert-- 5
`Office of the Ombudsman'. 6
PART 14--AMENDMENT OF FREEDOM OF 7
INFORMATION ACT 1992 8
108 Act amended in pt 14 and sch 2 9
This part and schedule 2 amend the Freedom of Information Act 1992. 10
109 Replacement of pt 5, div 2 (Staff of Information Commissioner) 11
Part 5, division 2-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`Division 2--Staff of Commissioner 14
`70 Officers 15
`(1) The commissioner may employ the officers the commissioner 16
considers necessary for this Act. 17
`(2) Officers of the commissioner are appointed under this Act and not 18
under the Public Service Act 1996. 19
`(3) The conditions of appointment of an officer of the commissioner are 20
those decided by the Governor in Council. 21
`70A Secondment 22
`(1) A public service officer may be seconded as an officer of the 23
commissioner. 24
`(2) While seconded under this section-- 25
s 109 57 s 109
Ombudsman Bill 2001
(a) the person is taken to be an officer of the commissioner; and 1
(b) the Public Service Act 1996 does not apply to the person. 2
`70B Temporary and casual employees 3
`(1) The commissioner may employ the temporary and casual employees 4
the commissioner considers necessary for this Act. 5
`(2) The commissioner may decide the employees' terms of 6
employment. 7
`(3) Subsection (2) has effect subject to any relevant industrial 8
instrument within the meaning of the Industrial Relations Act 1999. 9
`(4) Employees of the commissioner are employed under this Act and 10
not the Public Service Act 1996. 11
`70C Performance of functions by officers of ombudsman 12
`(1) An officer of the ombudsman may perform duties as an equivalent 13
officer of the commissioner-- 14
(a) if the ombudsman is the commissioner--in accordance with 15
arrangements decided by the ombudsman; or 16
(b) otherwise--in accordance with arrangements agreed between the 17
ombudsman and the commissioner. 18
`(2) In this section-- 19
"officer of the ombudsman" means an officer of the ombudsman under 20
the Ombudsman Act 2001. 21
`Division 2A--Preservation of rights 22
`70D Preservation of rights if public service officer appointed 23
`(1) A public service officer who becomes an officer of the commissioner 24
is entitled to retain all existing and accruing rights as if service as an officer 25
of the commissioner were a continuation of service as a public service 26
officer. 27
`(2) If the person stops holding office for a reason other than misconduct, 28
the person is entitled to be employed as a public service officer. 29
s 110 58 s 110
Ombudsman Bill 2001
`(3) The person is to be employed on the classification level and 1
remuneration that the public service commissioner or another entity 2
prescribed under a regulation considers the person would have attained in 3
the ordinary course of progression if the person had continued in 4
employment as a public service officer. 5
`70E Preservation of rights if person becomes public service officer 6
`On the appointment of an officer of the commissioner as a public 7
service officer, the person's service as an officer of the commissioner must 8
be regarded as service as a public service officer for working out the 9
person's rights as a public service officer. 10
`70F Preservation of rights if public service officer seconded 11
`(1) A public service officer seconded under section 70A-- 12
(a) is entitled to the person's existing and accruing rights as if 13
employment as an officer of the commissioner were a 14
continuation of employment as a public service officer; and 15
(b) may apply for positions, and be employed, in the public service 16
as if the person were a public service officer. 17
`(2) On ending the secondment, the person's employment on 18
secondment as an officer of the commissioner is taken to be employment of 19
the same nature in the public service for working out the person's rights as 20
a public service officer. 21
`(3) If the secondment is ended for a reason other than misconduct, the 22
person is entitled to be employed as a public service officer. 23
`(4) The person is entitled to be employed on the same, or a higher, 24
classification level and remuneration that the public service commissioner 25
or another entity prescribed under a regulation considers the person would 26
have attained in the ordinary course of progression if the person had not 27
been seconded.'. 28
110 Replacement of s 108A (Strategic review of commissioner) 29
(1) Section 108A-- 30
omit, insert-- 31
s 110 59 s 110
Ombudsman Bill 2001
`108A Strategic review of commissioner 1
`(1) Strategic reviews of the commissioner are to be conducted under 2
this section and sections 108AA and 108AB. 3
`(2) A strategic review is to be conducted at least every 5 years, counting 4
from when the report (the "earlier report") for the most recent earlier 5
strategic review was given to the Minister and the commissioner under 6
section 108AB(4),22 up to when the reviewer is appointed under 7
subsection (4) to undertake the latest review. 8
`(3) However, if the parliamentary committee reported to the Legislative 9
Assembly about the earlier report, and the committee's report made 10
recommendations to which a Minister was required to respond under the 11
Parliamentary Committees Act 1995, section 24,23 the 5 years is counted 12
from when the Minister's response was tabled under that section. 13
`(4) Each strategic review is to be undertaken by an appropriately 14
qualified person ("reviewer"), appointed by the Governor in Council, who 15
is to give a report on the review. 16
`(5) The terms of reference for a strategic review are to be decided by the 17
Governor in Council. 18
`(6) Before a reviewer is appointed to conduct a strategic review, the 19
Minister must consult with the parliamentary committee and the 20
commissioner about-- 21
(a) the appointment of the reviewer; and 22
(b) the terms of reference for the review. 23
`(7) The remuneration and other terms of appointment of the reviewer 24
are as decided by the Governor in Council. 25
`(8) In this section-- 26
"strategic review" includes-- 27
(a) a review of the commissioner's functions; and 28
(b) a review of the commissioner's performance of the functions to 29
assess whether they are being performed economically, 30
effectively and efficiently. 31
22 Section 108AB (Report of strategic review)
23 Parliamentary Committees Act 1995, section 24 (Ministerial response to committee
reports)
s 110 60 s 110
Ombudsman Bill 2001
`108AA Conduct of strategic review 1
`In conducting a strategic review-- 2
(a) the reviewer has the powers an authorised auditor has under the 3
Financial Administration and Audit Act 1977 for an audit of an 4
entity; and 5
(b) that Act and other Acts apply to the reviewer as if the reviewer 6
were an authorised auditor conducting an audit of an entity. 7
`108AB Report of strategic review 8
`(1) The reviewer must give a copy of a proposed report on the strategic 9
review to the Minister and the commissioner. 10
`(2) The commissioner may, within 21 days after receiving the proposed 11
report, give the reviewer written comments on anything in the proposed 12
report. 13
`(3) If the commissioner comments under subsection (2), the reviewer 14
must-- 15
(a) if the reviewer and commissioner can agree about how to dispose 16
of a comment--incorporate into the report any agreed 17
amendment necessary to dispose of the comment; or 18
(b) if the reviewer and commissioner can not agree about how to 19
dispose of a comment--include the comment, in full, in the 20
report. 21
`(4) After complying with subsections (1) and (3), the reviewer must 22
give the report ("review report") to the Minister and the commissioner. 23
`(5) The review report must be the same as the proposed report given to 24
them under subsection (1), apart from the changes made under 25
subsection (3). 26
`(6) The Minister must table the review report in the Legislative 27
Assembly within 3 sitting days after the Minister receives the report. 28
`(7) For the Parliamentary Committees Act 1995, section 8(2),24 the 29
report is referred to the parliamentary committee.'. 30
24 Parliamentary Committees Act 1995, section 8 (Role of statutory committees)
s 111 61 s 111
Ombudsman Bill 2001
111 Insertion of new pt 7 1
After part 6-- 2
insert-- 3
`PART 7--TRANSITIONAL PROVISION FOR 4
OMBUDSMAN ACT 2001 5
`110 Strategic review 6
`(1) A report of a strategic review under former section 108A is taken to 7
be an earlier report of a strategic review for section 108A(2). 8
`(2) In this section-- 9
"former section 72" means section 108A of this Act as in force 10
immediately before the commencement of this section. 11
"new section 72" means section 108A of this Act as inserted by the 12
Ombudsman Act 2001.'. 13
62
Ombudsman Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 1 1
AMENDMENT OF OTHER ACTS 2
section 96 3
ACTS INTERPRETATION ACT 1954 4
1 Section 36-- 5
insert-- 6
` "ombudsman" means the ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act 2001.'. 7
CHILD PROTECTION ACT 1999 8
1 Section 186(2)(b)-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`(b) to the ombudsman conducting an investigation under the 11
Ombudsman Act 2001; or'. 12
COMMISSION FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE 13
ACT 2000 14
1 Schedule 4, definition "complaints agency", paragraph (a)-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`(a) the ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act 2001;'. 17
63
Ombudsman Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
COOPERATIVES ACT 1997 1
1 Section 456(3)(d), `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 4
CORRECTIVE SERVICES ACT 2000 5
1 Section 37(2)(c)-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`(c) the ombudsman.'. 8
2 Section 100(2)(c)-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`(c) the ombudsman; or'. 11
3 Section 130(2)(e)-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`(c) the ombudsman; or'. 14
4 Section 197(4), `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974'-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 17
64
Ombudsman Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 1989 1
1 Section 37(2)(a)-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`(a) the ombudsman;'. 4
2 Section 118U(5), definition "appropriate agency", `the 5
parliamentary commissioner for administrative investigations'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`the ombudsman'. 8
EVIDENCE ACT 1977 9
1 Schedule 1, items 2 and 7-- 10
omit. 11
2 Schedule 1, items 3 to 6-- 12
renumber as items 2 to 5. 13
3 Schedule 1, items 8 to 14-- 14
renumber as items 6 to 12. 15
4 Schedule 1-- 16
insert-- 17
`13. Ombudsman'. 18
65
Ombudsman Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
5 Schedule 1, items 15 to 17-- 1
renumber as items 14 to 16. 2
GOVERNMENT OWNED CORPORATIONS ACT 1993 3
1 Section 182, heading, `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974'-- 4
omit, insert-- 5
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 6
2 Section 182(1), `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 9
3 Section 184, heading, `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 12
4 Section 184, `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974'-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 15
5 Schedule 4, section 184, heading, `Parliamentary Commissioner 16
Act 1974'-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 19
66
Ombudsman Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
6 Schedule 4, section 184, `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974'-- 1
omit, insert-- 2
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 3
GRAIN INDUSTRY (RESTRUCTURING) ACT 1991 4
1 Section 6(1)(a)(ii), `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 7
HEALTH RIGHTS COMMISSION ACT 1991 8
1 Section 27(b)(i)-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`(i) the ombudsman; and'. 11
JUDICIAL REVIEW ACT 1991 12
1 Section 17-- 13
omit. 14
67
Ombudsman Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1993 1
1 Section 60X(1)(e), `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 4
2 Section 728, heading, `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 7
3 Section 728(1), `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974'-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 10
MEAT INDUSTRY ACT 1993 11
1 Section 161, heading, `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 14
2 Section 161(1), `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974'-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 17
68
Ombudsman Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES ACT 1995 1
1 Section 10(2)(c), from `Parliamentary'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`Ombudsman Act 2001, section 52. '. 25
4
PUBLIC SECTOR ETHICS ACT 1994 5
1 Schedule, definition "Parliamentary Commissioner"-- 6
omit. 7
QUEENSLAND COMPETITION AUTHORITY ACT 1997 8
1 Section 229(e)-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`(e) an agency under the Ombudsman Act 2001.'. 11
RURAL ADJUSTMENT AUTHORITY ACT 1994 12
1 Section 40(d), `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974'-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 15
25 Ombudsman Act 2001, section 52 (Report to Assembly on ombudsman's initiative)
69
Ombudsman Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 1 (continued)
SUGAR INDUSTRY ACT 1999 1
1 Section 120(2)(a)(i)-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`(i) the Ombudsman Act 2001; and'. 4
WHISTLEBLOWERS PROTECTION ACT 1994 5
1 Schedule 1, `office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for 6
Administrative Investigations'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`Office of the Ombudsman'. 9
2 Schedule 1, `Parliamentary Commissioner for Administrative 10
Investigations'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`Ombudsman'. 13
WORKCOVER QUEENSLAND ACT 1996 14
1 Section 423(1)(b)-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`(b) a public authority under the Ombudsman Act 2001.'. 17
70
Ombudsman Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 2 1
MINOR AMENDMENTS OF FREEDOM OF 2
INFORMATION ACT 1992 3
section 108 4
1 Section 7, definition "parliamentary commissioner"-- 5
omit. 6
2 Section 39, heading, `parliamentary commissioner'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`ombudsman'. 9
3 Section 39(1)(a)-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`(a) an investigation by the ombudsman; or'. 12
4 Sections 61(2) and (5) and 108B(1)(a), `parliamentary 13
commissioner'-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`ombudsman'. 16
5 Section 107, heading, `Parliamentary Commissioner Act'-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`Ombudsman Act'. 19
6 Section 107, `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974'-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`Ombudsman Act 2001'. 22
71
Ombudsman Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 2 (continued)
7 Section 108B(1), `Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974, 1
section 32'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`Ombudsman Act 2001, section 8326'. 4
26 Ombudsman Act 2001, section 83 (Strategic review of office)
72
Ombudsman Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 3 1
DICTIONARY 2
section 3 3
"administrative action" see section 7.27 4
"agency" see section 8.28 5
"appropriate agency", for an investigation, means the agency by, in or for 6
which the administrative action the subject of investigation was taken. 7
"Assembly" means the Legislative Assembly. 8
"complainant" means a person who is a complainant under section 20. 9
"complaint" means a complaint made under section 20.29 10
"complaints entity" means an entity, other than the ombudsman, that, 11
under an Act, has responsibility for the investigation or review of 12
matters that may include administrative actions of agencies. 13
14
Examples of complaints entities--
15
· the Commissioner for Children and Young People under the Commission for
16
Children and Young People Act 2000
17
· the Criminal Justice Commission under the Criminal Justice Act 1989
18
· the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner under the Anti-Discrimination Act
19
1991
20
· the Health Rights Commissioner under the Health Rights Commission Act
21
1991
22
· the Queensland Crime Commission under the Crime Commission Act 1997
23
· the adult guardian under the Guardianship and Administration Act 2000.
"conviction" includes a plea of guilty, or a finding of guilt by a court, even 24
though a conviction is not recorded. 25
"investigation" means investigation under this Act. 26
27 Section 7 (Meaning of "administrative action")
28 Section 8 (Meaning of "agency")
29 Section 20 (Complaints)
73
Ombudsman Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 3 (continued)
"investigation requirement" means a requirement made under section 28 1
or 29.30 2
"notice" means written notice. 3
"officer", of an agency, includes-- 4
(a) the agency's principal officer; and 5
(b) a member of the agency; and 6
(c) a member of the agency's staff; and 7
(d) a person employed by or for the agency. 8
"officer of the ombudsman" means any of the following-- 9
(a) an officer employed under section 76; 31
10
(b) a public service officer seconded to the ombudsman office under 11
section 77;32 12
(c) a temporary or casual employee under section 78.33 13
"ombudsman office", for part 8, division 1, means the Office of the 14
Ombudsman. 15
"operational action", for a police officer, a criminal justice commission 16
officer or a crime commission officer, means any action taken in or for 17
performing functions the officer has under powers conferred on the 18
officer by any Act or law, including, for example-- 19
(a) enforcement powers; 20
(b) investigation, information gathering, search and questioning 21
powers; 22
(c) arrest and custody powers; 23
(d) powers for preserving public order and safety; 24
(e) for a police officer, powers of a public official. 25
30 Section 28 (Requirement to give document or information) or 29 (Requirement to
attend and to give document or information)
31 Section 76 (Officers)
32 Section 77 (Secondment as officer of ombudsman)
33 Section 78 (Temporary and casual employees)
74
Ombudsman Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 3 (continued)
1
Example--
2
Powers a police officer or criminal justice commission officer has under the
3
Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000.
"parliamentary committee" means the Legal, Constitutional and 4
Administrative Review Committee of the Assembly. 5
"parliamentary reference", of an administrative action of an agency, 6
means a reference made under section 19.34 7
"preliminary inquiry" means inquiries made under section 22(1).35 8
"principal officer" means-- 9
(a) for a department--the chief executive of the department; or 10
(b) for a local government--the chief executive officer, however 11
named, of the local government; or 12
(c) for an agency for which a regulation declares the holder of an 13
office to be the principal officer--the holder of the office; or 14
(d) for another agency-- 15
(i) if it is an incorporated body with no members--the person 16
who manages the body's affairs; or 17
(ii) if it is a body (whether or not incorporated) constituted by 18
1 person--the person; or 19
(iii) if it is a body (whether or not incorporated) constituted by 20
2 or more persons--the person who is entitled to preside at 21
a meeting of the body at which the person is present. 22
"public authority" see section 9.36 23
"responsible Minister" means-- 24
(a) for a department--the Minister administering the department; or 25
(b) for a local government--the Minister administering the Local 26
Government Act 1993; or 27
34 Section 19 (Legislative Assembly may refer administrative action for investigation)
35 Section 22 (Preliminary inquiry)
36 Section 9 (Meaning of "public authority")
75
Ombudsman Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 3 (continued)
(c) for an Aboriginal local government--the Minister administering 1
the Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984; or 2
(d) for a Torres Strait Islander local government--the Minister 3
administering the Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984; 4
or 5
(e) for an entity that is a public authority under section 9(1)(a)--the 6
Minister administering the Act by or under which the public 7
authority is established; or 8
(f) for an entity that is a public authority under section 9(1)(d)--the 9
Minister administering the Act by or under which the office 10
mentioned in the provision is established; or 11
(g) for another agency--the Minister declared under a regulation to 12
be the responsible Minister for the agency. 13
"strategic review" means a strategic review conducted under section 83.37 14
15
© State of Queensland 2001
37 Section 83 (Strategic review of office)
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